Risks+of+being+underweight

If your BMI is 19 or lower, you have a higher risk of developing anemia, bone loss, nutrient deficiency, heart irregularities, amenorrhoea (loss of periods in women) and osteoporosis. Your risk of depression and anxiety may also increase. So, if you are underweight, consider taking steps to gain weight and improve nutrition. See your doctor for advice and check if your weight is a symptom of a medical condition. Also, ask for nutritional advice to help you gain weight. Compare with normal weight, a person who is obese or underweight has an increased risk of death, although that risk appears to have decreased in recent years for obesity, according to a study in the April 20 issue of JAMA. As the prevalence of obesity increases in the United States, concern about the association of body weight and a higher risk of death has also increased, according to background information in the article. Katherine M. Flegal, Ph.D., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hyattsville, Md., and colleagues conducted a study to estimate deaths associated with underweight, overweight, and obesity in the United States in 2000 by using all available mortality data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES). The researchers estimated relative risks of mortality associated with different levels of BMI (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters) from the nationally representative (NHANES) I (1971-1975) and NHANES II (1976-1980), with follow-up through 1992, and from NHANES III (1988-1994), with follow-up through 2000. The authors then applied those relative risks to the NHANES 1999-2002 data to estimate excess mortality in 2000. The researchers found that relative to the normal weight category (BMI 18.5 to less than 25), obesity (BMI 30 or greater) was associated with 111,909 excess deaths and underweight (BMI less than 18.5) with 33,746 excess deaths. Overweight was not associated with excess mortality. Risk factors for Underweight are factors that do not seem to be a direct cause of the disease, but seem to be associated in some way. Having a risk factor for Underweight makes the chances of getting a condition higher but does not always lead to Underweight. Also, the absence of any risk factors or having a protective factor does not necessarily guard you against getting Underweight.For general information and a list of risk factors, see the [|risk center] //An Easy Diet Program for Lasting Weight Loss// One of the friendliest and BEST VALUE diet programs on the Internet is the [|//Anne Collins Diet Program//]. Containing a range of menus, it also includes a list of "brilliant" weight motivation tips.
 * Being Underweight**